Public land in north Nevada for gold nuggets

[duchemin]

Hi,
I am from Germany and I have searched for artifacts since 1 year.
End of august I will make a trip to Las Vegas. I several maps I saw, that there is gold in the northern part of Nevada. But I also saw, that there are a lot of claims there.
So how do I recognize a claim, how do I find public land? I am afraid, that I will be a claim jumper.

I will be there for about 3 days, so I don't want to spend to much time in the outback to find public land with nuggets. I just want to have some fun without bling bling cash from Las Vegas.

Sorry for my bad english, but I hope you understand what my problem is.

Best regards

Wolfgang

 

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[Clay Diggins]

You should listen to Kuger and pippinwhitepaws on this. They obviously know what they speak of. Rye patch isn't just heavily claimed by large mining companies but most of the public land that isn't claimed is part of a large Department of Defense withdrawal.

If you follow the Rye Patch directions Fullpan gave on this thread last year you would find you are right in the middle of an active group of placer claims. Land status changes. These claims are on the part of the Section (square mile) "checkerboard" that is not part of the DOD withdrawal. They were restaked this summer and the mining company is currently sampling several square miles of those claims with heavy equipment so any efforts to just slip in for some detecting will be immediately noticed by those mining crews. Not much cover up there.

The LR2000 is only a starting point in fulfilling your obligation to perform your due diligence regarding land status. The LR2000 has been unavailable since October 1 so that's not really going to be an option. Even if it were working the LR2000 is often inaccurate and never current. The information from the LR2000 is only part of the land status equation.

The BLM is not legally capable of giving you permission to prospect. Their claims records are only accurate to the nearest quarter mile and their land management maps don't include information about mineral ownership status. Not all unclaimed public lands have mineral rights. Even if they did have the information you wanted they can't guarantee that information or back you up with the Sheriff when you find out they were wrong.

Nevada is THE Mining State. People are serious about their mining there. Prospecting willy nilly across the public lands could lead to some pretty uncomfortable situations in a place where people are serious about their mineral rights.

A lot of people have prospected Rye Patch with great success. Some of those people got permission from claim holders or found unclaimed land or open land like the DOD withdrawal. The majority of those successful prospectors just prospected wherever it looked good to them even though the area has always had a great number of claims.

Today things are different. The price of gold is in the range that makes mining companies remember just why they held all those claims for years. Miners are mining again and claim holders are beginning to look at their minerals as a valuable investment that needs protection. Wherever I go in the west these days I see new mining operations. We are experiencing the beginning of a new mining era.

The days of wandering the west prospecting wherever it appealed to you are coming to an end. It's never been legally OK to prospect just wherever - all prospectors have a legal obligation to find out the status of the land you intend to prospect before you go there and prospect. For a lot of years those laws went largely unenforced. The "Good Old Days" are fading fast as metal prices rise. With a new strength for mining come changes that may be inconvenient for the casual prospector.

There are still many large nuggets to be found at Rye Patch. There are still friendly claim owners that may let you prospect their claims for a day or two. There is still open public land at Rye Patch. You just can't rely on the LR2000, a BLM land management map or signs on the ground to show you where those open lands and friendly claim owners are.

I hope the original poster found some good gold. Taking a nugget or two back home to Germany would be pretty cool!

 

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[carl9197]

Clay,

I haven't prospected at Rye Patch yet but I have heard and read a lot of stories over the years about it. I drive through that area on my way from Utah to NoCal from time to time. My research has told me that it is almost all claimed up by big corps but they haven't bothered to mark their claims. I don't want to get involved in a fight with a big mining corp so I have stayed away.

I have not heard of a Department of Defense (DOD) mineral withdrawal. I googled it and found nothing. Can you point me to an internet source where I can get some coordinates on this withdrawal? I assume that means that nobody can claim it and it is free to openly prospect on a small scale. (as with the BLM mineral withdrawal areas in Oregon that I am familiar with)

Carl

 

[Clay Diggins]

Your best bet Carl is to get the Master Title Plat for the Township and Range you are interested in. You can find those at the Government Land Office under the Land Status Records. That will show the DOD withdrawals.

Around the Majuba placers it's an almost random checkerboard pattern of mostly whole sections. The withdrawal is in the name of the Department of the Navy.

Hope that helps.

Heavy Pans

 

[GoldCTX]

Hi Wolfgang,

First, thing that you need to get is "google earth". Then you will need to get a subscription to http://www.minecache.com . After that, you can plan your trip on google earth and know where not to prospect as well as where to prospect safely… with Minecache you will be able to select either ALL the current [active] BLM claims, or ALL the closed claims….

Another big help is always having with you a Garmin GPS with a program installed on it made by "Montana Maps". It is a program made for hunting… but, for prospecting… it is very useful… It will show you very accurate realtime property lines… and also Private Property Owners where you can ask for permission to detect on their land! With the GPS and that program you know 100% if you are on Government land, or trespassing on "Private Property."

Both the minecache.com with google earth and the GPS with "Montana Maps" will make sure you are where you need to be and have a safe prospecting trip!…

Also Both these programs will work on an iPad

Best of Luck Prospecting!

 

[Hard Prospector]

Great advice.

Hi Wolfgang,

First, thing that you need to get is "google earth". Then you will need to get a subscription to http://www.minecache.com . After that, you can plan your trip on google earth and know where not to prospect as well as where to prospect safely… with Minecache you will be able to select either ALL the current [active] BLM claims, or ALL the closed claims….

Another big help is always having with you a Garmin GPS with a program installed on it made by "Montana Maps". It is a program made for hunting… but, for prospecting… it is very useful… It will show you very accurate realtime property lines… and also Private Property Owners where you can ask for permission to detect on their land! With the GPS and that program you know 100% if you are on Government land, or trespassing on "Private Property."

Both the minecache.com with google earth and the GPS with "Montana Maps" will make sure you are where you need to be and have a safe prospecting trip!…

Also Both these programs will work on an iPad

Best of Luck Prospecting!

 

[Fullpan]

You should listen to Kuger and pippinwhitepaws on this. They obviously know what they speak of. Rye patch isn't just heavily claimed by large mining companies but most of the public land that isn't claimed is part of a large Department of Defense withdrawal.

If you follow the Rye Patch directions Fullpan gave on this thread last year you would find you are right in the middle of an active group of placer claims. Land status changes. These claims are on the part of the Section (square mile) "checkerboard" that is not part of the DOD withdrawal. They were restaked this summer and the mining company is currently sampling several square miles of those claims with heavy equipment so any efforts to just slip in for some detecting will be immediately noticed by those mining crews. Not much cover up there.

The LR2000 is only a starting point in fulfilling your obligation to perform your due diligence regarding land status. The LR2000 has been unavailable since October 1 so that's not really going to be an option. Even if it were working the LR2000 is often inaccurate and never current. The information from the LR2000 is only part of the land status equation.

The BLM is not legally capable of giving you permission to prospect. Their claims records are only accurate to the nearest quarter mile and their land management maps don't include information about mineral ownership status. Not all unclaimed public lands have mineral rights. Even if they did have the information you wanted they can't guarantee that information or back you up with the Sheriff when you find out they were wrong.

Nevada is THE Mining State. People are serious about their mining there. Prospecting willy nilly across the public lands could lead to some pretty uncomfortable situations in a place where people are serious about their mineral rights.

A lot of people have prospected Rye Patch with great success. Some of those people got permission from claim holders or found unclaimed land or open land like the DOD withdrawal. The majority of those successful prospectors just prospected wherever it looked good to them even though the area has always had a great number of claims.

Today things are different. The price of gold is in the range that makes mining companies remember just why they held all those claims for years. Miners are mining again and claim holders are beginning to look at their minerals as a valuable investment that needs protection. Wherever I go in the west these days I see new mining operations. We are experiencing the beginning of a new mining era.

The days of wandering the west prospecting wherever it appealed to you are coming to an end. It's never been legally OK to prospect just wherever - all prospectors have a legal obligation to find out the status of the land you intend to prospect before you go there and prospect. For a lot of years those laws went largely unenforced. The "Good Old Days" are fading fast as metal prices rise. With a new strength for mining come changes that may be inconvenient for the casual prospector.

There are still many large nuggets to be found at Rye Patch. There are still friendly claim owners that may let you prospect their claims for a day or two. There is still open public land at Rye Patch. You just can't rely on the LR2000, a BLM land management map or signs on the ground to show you where those open lands and friendly claim owners are.

I hope the original poster found some good gold. Taking a nugget or two back home to Germany would be pretty cool!

Just an update on OP "duchenem" adventure. We exchanged almost twenty pm's when he was in Winnemucca hotel base camp for about 4 days. Long story
short, he and a partner made all-day forays to Rye Patch area, and then to Sawtooth Knob area. Close, but no cigars. He and Max found some, and were given some nice quartz crystals - said they were of quality almost equal to famous crystals from Swiss alps, of which he has a collection. At least he didn't go home completely skunked - said he had a blast.

 

[worldavi]

Gee i am always looking for someone to go MD'ing up there. I wanna go up near Jungo road area which you should be familiar with. I usually travel from Sparks.
Leo

 

[worldavi]

Hi Gold.....I have bought the Trimble maps on a SD card and use on Ipad or Android device. the maps also have landownership function and defines who owns the private property by name. Well yes land gets bought and sold but in these areas not as often. They are designed to work "off the grid" using satellite only input. I bought a Garmin Bluetooth GPS receiver for $99.00 which gives you US Global satellites as well as Glossnas too which give more precision. Every time I am up there I see hardly no one. the only actual mining operation is the grandson of the original owner of the land at the top of the hill where Peg leg Jim used to stay. He is no longer there, he got run off the land by the owner. If I see no claim markers....I assume first there are no claims. By law, owners are required to maintain their claims and that includes the markers as well. I figure if I do accidently land on a active claim and it is not marked, and somebody wants to give me a bunch of crap...I will first advise them of the marker issue and politely advise them that I will leave. I never have any issues with that. They know they are in the wrong and if they are smart they should at least admit it. I am gonna try mine cache and see how it works.

 

[Goldwasher]

Hi Gold.....I have bought the Trimble maps on a SD card and use on Ipad or Android device. the maps also have landownership function and defines who owns the private property by name. Well yes land gets bought and sold but in these areas not as often. They are designed to work "off the grid" using satellite only input. I bought a Garmin Bluetooth GPS receiver for $99.00 which gives you US Global satellites as well as Glossnas too which give more precision. Every time I am up there I see hardly no one. the only actual mining operation is the grandson of the original owner of the land at the top of the hill where Peg leg Jim used to stay. He is no longer there, he got run off the land by the owner. If I see no claim markers....I assume first there are no claims. By law, owners are required to maintain their claims and that includes the markers as well. I figure if I do accidently land on a active claim and it is not marked, and somebody wants to give me a bunch of crap...I will first advise them of the marker issue and politely advise them that I will leave. I never have any issues with that. They know they are in the wrong and if they are smart they should at least admit it. I am gonna try mine cache and see how it works.

People pull claim markers.....it is the duty of the owner to maintain..yet, there is no "you have a week or lose it" sort of rule....The fact is a valid claim is that...and arguing with the owner if he is telling you to get off his claim is rude...you are not in the right and the notion that you win out in the field...based on a technicality is a shady kind of attitude to have. Its is the prospectors obligation to know land status.... If you have advance knowledge (you would have to) of a claim show up and see no markers...and use that as a way to decide if your gonna dig there you are a Highgrader plain and simple. For all anyone knows you could have pulled the corners the day before...pretty terrible advice and attitude to convey to people on a site where people seek info. I think Nevada is Like California even . On a placer claim you only need a discovery monument...There are no corners unless your on un-surveyed land. Either way there is a map on file and that takes us full circle. You are obliged to know as the prospector.... In Nevada I believe ore dumps aren't even considered abandoned for ten years. So don't highgrade and don't tell people how to do it either.

 

[Clay Diggins]

People pull claim markers.....it is the duty of the owner to maintain..yet, there is no "you have a week or lose it" sort of rule....The fact is a valid claim is that...and arguing with the owner if he is telling you to get off his claim is rude...you are not in the right and the notion that you win out in the field...based on a technicality is a shady kind of attitude to have. Its is the prospectors obligation to know land status.... If you have advance knowledge (you would have to) of a claim show up and see no markers...and use that as a way to decide if your gonna dig there you are a Highgrader plain and simple. For all anyone knows you could have pulled the corners the day before...pretty terrible advice and attitude to convey to people on a site where people seek info. I think Nevada is Like California even . On a placer claim you only need a discovery monument...There are no corners unless your on un-surveyed land. Either way there is a map on file and that takes us full circle. You are obliged to know as the prospector.... In Nevada I believe ore dumps aren't even considered abandoned for ten years. So don't highgrade and don't tell people how to do it either.

Thanks Goldwasher!

The simple fact is that each prospector has a legal duty to avoid mineral trespass by informing themselves BEFORE entering the lands to prospect. I defy anyone to locate all 5 stakes on even a freshly staked 160 acre claim without prior research. I've made this challenge before and the best result yet is three stakes - that took all day to define three corners of a claim on the ground. The average is 0 stakes.

It's not the claim owners duty to keep prospectors from trespassing on their minerals.

Think of it this way, you are wandering through a new neighborhood. Several garage doors are open. You see something interesting in one of the garages so you look around and don't see any signs that say "don't take anything from my garage" so you wander on in and choose a pair of skis and a motorcycle for yourself.

Were you:
Just taking free stuff from a public area?
or
Trespassing and stealing?

Does your answer depend on whether the property owner put up a sign telling you this was his stuff?

There are no excuses or magic "no stake" loopholes in a court when you are tried for mineral trespass. The judge will declare you a thief because you took property that clearly wasn't yours. Both the homeowner and the claim owner maintain a public record of their property boundaries. The fact that you didn't bother to look up those public records doesn't mean you get free skis, a motorcycle and all the minerals you can dig. It means you can go to jail for theft.

Heavy Pans

 

[Reed Lukens]

Hi Gold...By law, owners are required to maintain their claims and that includes the markers as well. I figure if I do accidently land on a active claim and it is not marked, and somebody wants to give me a bunch of crap...I will first advise them of the marker issue and politely advise them that I will leave.

And besides that, if they are marking their corners, the corners are not down at the river where they can be seen, They are up the side of the mountain,maybe at the top. Nobody at the river see's my corner markers ever, yet they are there far above the river and easy for anyone to see who takes my access road in. Because people have a bad habit of taking down markers, even though my markers are on my corners, they were also put high in a tree and someone just walking in without a tall ladder won't be able to get to them. Claims are there and they are legal. I've had people try to tell me that my corners aren't marked and then I've taken them to the discovery marker and let them see the map inside. None have ever been to my corners before then. I've taught hundreds of people how to pan on my claim that just came to pan for their first time, not knowing the first thing about mining claims, heck I even helped a guy set up his gravity dredge and told him what he was doing wrong with his set up. He had no idea that he was on my claim either until I told him and let him know that he was fine where he was. The claims are marked, so who is in the wrong?